Like most people who followed the indie film movement in the early ‘90’s, I’ve seen Clerks. It came out the year I graduated high school and was an anthem for me and my peers. It spoke to my generation and reflected who we thought we were at the time. I was in awe of Randal Grave’s cavalier attitude even though I was much more of a worrier like Dante Hicks. Unfortunately, my fascination with Clerks was soon eclipsed by other gems of the era—the Beastie Boys’ Ill Communication album, Pulp Fiction, and Keanu Reeves’s “What are you going to do?” line from Speed.
But a couple of weeks ago, I plopped down in front of the television to eat dinner and discovered something I didn’t know existed, Clerks II. I caught the film in the middle; nevertheless, I was immediately captivated by what I saw. Then not only did I watch the movie until the end, I went to Showtime Anytime and watched the whole thing again from the beginning. This led to an overall fascination with the world of Clerks, or as director Kevin Smith calls it the View Askewniverse. So much so, I went on to watch Chasing Amy the next night and tracked down a copy of the documentary Back to the Well: Clerks II on YouTube. Oddly, in doing all of this, I learned five huge things about writing and what it means to craft a story.
Know Where You’re Going
In the documentary Back to the Well: Clerks II, writer/director Kevin Smith talks about the start of his writing process:
“There were certain things I knew were going to happen in the movie. It was going to open with the store being on fire, and it was going to be a catalyst for the story. Like, the thing that kind of made them face the future was watching their past kind of burn. I wanted the Talking Heads Song ‘Nothing but Flowers’ to open the movie. I knew there was going to be a big dance sequence. And I knew the last shot would pull back from them and go from color to black and white. And I knew at the end of the movie, they [Randal and Dante] would own the Quick Stop. Like, they would be back in the store. The journey would take them from the store to the store. I basically knew the beginning and the end, and I just needed to fill in everything in between.”
I find inspiration in this statement. You don’t need a grand idea to start writing. You just need to know where you are going. Then each day work to connect the dots to create the overall journey. The sign posts and cool concepts you’ve set up along the way will keep you motivated to continue writing when the path from Point A to Point B seems impossible.
Have Faith in Your Premise
One of the things that Back to the Well: Clerks II spends a lot of time discussing is the fact that many people didn’t think it was a great idea for Kevin Smith to make the movie. Many thought the idea was based on a premise (slacker white guys) that had expired with the ‘90’s and, hence, didn’t provide enough material for another chapter. Others like Jeff Anderson (Randal), couldn’t quite fathom the idea of seeing these character in an older iteration. But Smith had a vision and plowed forward because he was positive he had an interesting tale to tell. I would posit that any idea can make an interesting story as long as you have emotional appeal and saddle your characters with the 3D’s—a powerful want (desire), strong motives (drive), and gripping discord (disasters). Do the homework of turning an idea into a story, and you can’t go wrong. Keep the faith. Kevin Smith had faith, and it turned out that Clerks II, screened out of competition at the 2006 Cannes Film Festival, received an eight-minute standing ovation from the midnight crowd.
Don’t Be Afraid to Change Your Climax
As writers we tend to obsess over the opening of our book because that first sentence can make or break whether or not someone pays for your product. But we must remember that endings are equally important. A good finale can redeem a lackluster story. A great finale inspires the reader to buy your next book. To put it plainly, a book’s ending is the last impression readers will have of your novel, so it is important to make our conclusions as powerful as possible.
To further this point, let’s return to Clerks II. In the process of filming, Kevin Smith and his star, Jeff Anderson (Randal), felt that it was more powerful to have the idea for the two heroes to purchase the Quick Stop derive from Randal’s frustration over losing his friend and his desire for the two buddies to make something great together, rather than the purchase being an idea born from a deus ex machina or some character unrelated to our heroes’ journey. The subtle shift turned the decidedly comedic film into one that is also rife with emotion—New York Times reviewer A.O. Scott says, “Clerks II has a dirty mind, but its heart is pure.” So even though the shooting script was complete, Smith was brave and smart enough to see that there was room to make changes that would allow the story to become stronger.
The lesson here is that it’s never too late to make revisions. A story always has room to grow, and that growth might start with looking at the end instead of obsessively mulling over the beginning.
Never Go Where the Audience Expects
You may have heard this more aptly put by those in the comedy world as “don’t let the audience beat you to the joke.” In other words, be two steps ahead of your reader and make the footpath as twisty as possible. The moment a reader says to themselves, “I knew that was going to happen,” they’ve taken themselves out of the story and may stop reading because the text is too predictable. It is important to give audiences the unexpected. Just when they think you’re going left, veer right. Obviously, you don’t want to throw logic and proper motivation out the window when you do this but keeping stories unpredictable forces readers to turn the page.
Kevin Smith’s producing partner, Scott Mosier, talked about this in Back to the Well: Clerks II. He mentions that the pair talked about making sure that the clerks’ journey was different from what the audience expected. Unlike many of the View Askewniverse films, Silent Bob didn’t provide the magical answer for our heroes. The filmmakers’ deliberate deviation from the norm is an important note for those of us writing books in a series. While we may want to give our readers the well-rounded world they are used to from book to book, we also need to infuse the text with something they’ve never seen before. It’s this subtle balance of old and new that will allow your audience to enjoy the trip and return again for the next adventure.
Disasters Sell the Story
Let’s deviate from Clerks II for a moment to talk about Kevin Smith’s Chasing Amy. Despite being a romantic comedy (of sorts), the film is a great example of how disasters can make a story more riveting by getting the audience emotionally involved. For example, the try and fail efforts of Holden (Ben Affleck) to win Alyssa’s (Joey Adams) heart are a heart wrenching roller coaster ride because each scene ends in his defeat—even those where he seems to win as with Holden’s declaration of love. It’s what Jack M. Bickham refers to as the “no,” “yes, but” or “no, and furthermore” cycle in his book Scene and Sequel. Each scene, except the resolution and wrap-up scenes, should end with one of the aforementioned disaster types. That is to say, at the end of each scene the protagonist or point of view character for the scene should find himself facing one of the following:
- He is unable to accomplish his intended goal OR
- He achieves his goal but must now undertake an even larger goal and face a new obstacle of great difficulty OR
- He is denied his goal and faced with a seemingly insurmountable obstacle.
Even though the stakes between Holden and Alyssa aren’t life and death, you can clearly see this pattern reflected in Chasing Amy. Holden finds his dream girl only to find out she’s gay, she’s more sexually adventurous than him, she’s been lying about her past, et cetera—all of which makes their story darker and more alluring than the average rom com.
Now it’s your turn to tell me about a TV show or movie that taught you a thing or two about the craft of writing. Share your thoughts in the comment section below.
Anything David Lynch.
AGREED!